If your great idea is ever to be profitable, people have to know about it. So creating an online store is not enough on its own - just as getting a business telephone number and expecting it to ring is not realistic. To attract visitors to your web site and convert them to customers you have to market the site. Here are some pointers on how you can persuade prospects to visit your site.
1. Try and get a web address that makes sense
It’s worth spending some time thinking about your web site address (URL). Ideally it will be easy to remember, stand out from the crowd and communicate your message. It should be the same as your company name, or include it; and should preferably start with the letter ‘A’, so that it comes near the top of alphabetical lists. Finding one that is suitable will take some time and probably a lot of investigation, as many good URLs have already been taken.
2. Start with your existing marketing
Put your web site address on your existing brochures, advertising, business cards and company letterhead. Wherever you promote your company name, promote your web address as well.
3. Major on search engines
Search engines are the number one source of new web site visitors, so it’s worth investing some time in learning about them. That is why the whole next tips section is devoted to the subject.
4. Use forums and newsgroups
There are lots of places where people hold discussions online. Some of these forums will be talking about your speciality. For instance, if you sell yachting gear, there are plenty of specialist boating forums. Provided that you participate responsibly and provide genuinely helpful advice, you can get the chance to talk about your company, products and offerings. In fact, done skillfully, people will end up asking you for information on your products and services, and that is really powerful. Just make sure you know the forum terms and conditions of each site and abide by them, to avoid tarnishing your reputation.
5. Spend carefully
There are lots of opportunities to advertise online, but many can be a waste of time. Before parting with your cash, you should use the same judgement that you would use when deciding whether to advertise in conventional media. Who will be looking at this medium and are they my target market? Getting your message in front of large numbers isn’t the issue. They must be potential customers who are interested in your products.
6. Ask the question, what’s working?
It’s a sad fact that when it comes to marketing, the anoraks are in the driving seat. Although being creative is crucial, the way to success is to measure the results and put the next round of money where you got the most results last time. So measure everything you do, and try to find out where all your leads and customers come from. When visitors buy from your site, make sure you post a question there asking how they heard about you, or use technology that tracks this automatically. Google supplies a free online service called Google Analytics to help analyse your traffic.
7. Find sites that are complementary to yours and offer mutual links
If you can, find specialist sites that cater for your particular niche, and get them to either link to you or put you in their search results. In return, put a link back to them. This can offer added value to your visitors as well as boosting your traffic - it’s a win-win situation. It should give you more traffic through the link, and also raise your listing in the search engines, giving more traffic that way as well. You could also set up your own referral scheme so that the linking site receives a share of the sales that they generate. The downside of this is that you need to buy some software or a service to do this.
8. Use a commercial referral scheme
There are also a number of referral schemes run commercially that you can join for a fee, and then pay a reward for clickthroughs or sales. Some sites report that this is their most cost-effective method of acquiring sales, but it will depend on what industry you are in.
9. Generate PR interest
One of our customers gets national coverage because they have an interesting story - selling products for left handed people. If you can get the press interested, it’s worth a fortune in marketing.
10. Learn from the success of others
Keep an eye on your competitors, and on successful sites in other market sectors. Don’t just copy them; but do learn from what they are doing, and think about how you can adapt good ideas in appropriate ways. Trawl magazines and ecommerce suppliers’ web sites for case studies, and find out what other sites attribute their success to.
11. Provide some additional value at your site
Can you come up with material for your site that will attract visitors? We provide free advice on ecommerce and the suitability of businesses for trading online, and other useful content. It’s worth trying to do something similar at your site.
12. Remember existing customers
Once you are up and running, remember that existing customers are your best customers. Make sure that you encourage them to return by making special offers and letting them know what you are doing at your store.
13. Use email marketing
There are now a number of responsible companies offering information and services relating to email marketing. They can supply email lists, advice, and delivery technology. They will ensure that you comply with the law, for instance by only sending marketing emails to companies that have opted in to receive them. With email marketing it is often useful to reward a response - for example by offering a discount or free useful white paper for people that click through.
14. Show your appreciation for recommendations.
Ask your customers to recommend you to their friends. You are much more likely to make a sale if recommended by someone trusted. If you get a sale as a result of a recommendation and the volumes make it possible, say thank you personally and send some form of reward - whether it is a small gift or a voucher that can be used at your store.
15. Market offline
It’s true that all of your prospects are online (if they are not online, they can’t buy from your store!) But it’s sometimes forgotten that 100% of these prospects also have a life offline. You need to ask whether traditional marketing methods such as direct mail may drive traffic costeffectively to your site.
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